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Saved: September 12th 2014
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I was feeling in perfect Health. In fact, we were at the Urban Pind (UP) the night
before jumping around and being goofy. Thursday is expat night. We were in bed by
1:00 AM.
At 3:00 AM, Friday morning, I was wakened by a sharp pain in the lower part of my
left rib cage. It felt like a severe case of runners cramps, the kind where you
lift your arms and just keep running until the cramp is gone.
So I tried to lay down but the pain was intense when laying down and not so bad
when I was sitting up. So I sat up in a chair the rest of the night but didn't sleep because the cramps hurt.
Kim and I went to the hospital at about 11:00 AM. By then there was some liquid
forming outside the rib cage but under the skin.
The doctor in the emergency room felt around the (liquid) pain area and I passed out in shock.
When I awoke, I was surrounded by doctors and nurses who had an IV in my
arm and had me hooked up to a heart machine.
I was in the
Kim Mohammad Dan
The night before the lung pain. Mohammad is a hip-hop DJ from Iraq that is going to be the DJ at Kim's birthday party in September. hospital for 4 days on antibiotics and they quickly learned it was my
left lung that was diseased and my heart was in good shape. They called it atypical
pneumonia because I had no symptoms until the pain. In fact, I ran 2.2 miles 2 days
before.
They put me on an IV drip and pumped me full of antibiotics to kill the pneumonia.
They tested my mucous periodically but the culture never produced an identifiable
bacteria. That may be because there was almost no mucous production at all or because there was no mucous samples taken until I had been on antibiotics for two full days.
They did cat scans, xrays, and sound imaging and none of my organs appeared unusual
except for the left lung and diaphragm. The images did show that my diaphragm was
pushing up on the bottom of my left lung, and that during breathing, the diaphragm below my
left lung was only moving a few centimeters but was fully functional below my
right lung. My left lung was collapsed about 50%. They said they are not sure
whether the (1) diaphragm was a birth defect, (2) or the lung collapsed because of
the pneumonia, and the diaphragm pushed into the vacated cavity of the collapse.
They never identified a pathogen so they are calling it atypical pneumonia.
They sent me home from the hospital 4 days later on Tuesday evening. I go in
for another scan next Tuesday to see what it looks like, a week after my release.
I'll update this blog as I learn more.
I may seek a second opinion from a lung doctor if I am not satisfied with the
conclusion.
I feel great and I don't feel like I am in any sort of life threatening situation.
The hospital was incredibly clean and beautiful and I paid extra for the room to
get a single patient room with a fold out couch for Kim to sleep on. She was with
me during my stay there, and only left for an hour or so per day to get stuff from
home that we needed. We watched movies on my computer, read, and played cranium.
Kim kept us laughing so the whole thing was not so scary.
I also felt well enough to begin working from my hospital bed on my second
day.
I am home now taking a few days bed rest before going back to work.
The 4 day stay including everything was about $1450.00 (US$). My work insurance paid $1250 of that. Can you believe how cheap it is here for medical care?
I think I am over my fear of doctors finally.
On an unrelated matter, it just occurred to me that the sun never sets on Maggie and Doc's family (Dan's Parent's children and grandchildren). The sun is always over one of us, somewhere in the world--USA, UK, Japan, and India. See e.g., http://www.die.net/earth/
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Follow up data:
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Tuesday, August 26, 2008: The doctor said my lung was recovering well and that it is okay for me to start running again and it is okay for me to fly on airplanes. I forgot to ask about scuba diving and the trapeze.
Thursday, August 28, 2008: The new CT with contrast is back and the report from the radiologist says, "Left lower lobe consolidation appears to have resolved." My doctor says that means the pneumonia is gone. He also said that the lung is still collapsed on the left side
but that is more likely than not from an earlier life trauma or a birth defect. He said I should live my life now as if nothing happened and only come see him if symptoms come back. On the other hand, Kim and I still have atypical retardation. No cure is likely.
Monday, September 1, 2008: I finally got to the gym. My lungs seem the same during a 2 mile run as they did before the accident. I ran about the same distance, in about the same time. I then lifted the exact same weights in the same order which also felt about the same. This will be the last I say on the matter. Thanks for all your encouragement.
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Mom
non-member comment
Some Adventure!!
Some adventure. I felt better seeing you and I am sure I will feel a lot better when you get a diagnosis. I do think it wise to consult a lung specialist though. My grateful heart goes to Kim for being with you. Please tell her how glad we all are that she is. It is a great comfort to me knowing you have someone who cares to look after you. I will call you tomorrow morning. Love, MOM